An advocacy group has started a petition to preserve the Indiana University Cross Country course that could be impacted by IU Health's new hospital. Friends of the IU Cross Country Course launched the petition on Sunday and has already collected more than 1000 signatures.
Kate Rosenbarger, the co-founder of the organization, says they want to work with IU Health on a compromise.
"We love this place so much and we know so many people use it that we don't want it to be destroyed without a fight," Rosenbarger says. "Of course, our end game is to preserve the course and still to make parking that is easy for the hospital to use."
The petition also allows participants to leave comments, which Rosenbarger says will help demonstrate how much the hospital's plans could impact the community.
"Runners use this course a lot but this isn't just about runners," she says. "It's about IU Health employees, and doctors and IU students and environmental groups."
Co-founder Matt Flaherty says he thinks the hospital could use the course as a benefit.
"We think this shouldn't be seen as a cost for the hospital, but really as an opportunity for them to leverage the beautiful natural areas surrounding the hospital and take advantage of it for their employees, for visitors of the hospital and even for long-term patients of the hospital," Flaherty says.
The Friends of the IU Cross Country Course Facebook page was created a little over two weeks ago and already has over 1,200 members. Flaherty says members have shared their stories about the course and it highlights how special it is.
"There were stories of people falling in love there, there were stories of cross-country skiing under the stars at night, stories of people viewing 40 deer at once," Flaherty says. "I myself have seen coyotes hunting there in the winter. It's a pretty amazing place."
IU Health did not respond to comment. IU athletic officials previously said the university plans to keep parts of the old cross country course and incorporate land the university already owns.
